Silver Draft
by WhiteWolfGoddess
Summary: Temari has just become a Jonin, but unfortunately no one cares about that. No one, but him... TemXShika
1. Morning 1: Intro

Temari gazed up into the sky. White fluffs of clouds floated past her overhead, gliding gently in the breeze. She grinned, "Wow. It looks like it's going to be another sunny and cheerful day, right Gaara?"

"Mmph!" Her younger brother shot her an annoyed look. Temari cocked her head, "Well, sor-ry Mr. Grumpy. Can't you be friendlier for once? Gaara didn't respond, causing her to eventually loose interest in him and felt her gaze slipping back upward, towards the open window.

I wonder if he's looking at the clouds too… 

"Hey Temari," She spun around to see Kankuro walking out the door, "I'm going out, okay?"

"Why?"

"I have something to do." He glanced at her, "Don't forget to cook lunch."

"I won't…" She sighed. It has only been a month since she was promoted to Jonin. But everyone just treated her as though she was still a genin. Which literally annoyed the hell outta her.

No congratulated her, or paid her any attention. They were all literally, 'Oh, another Jonin.'

Except him.

She can still remember that day. About a week after being promoted, going outside to get the mail. There was nothing very interesting about that; usually the mail was nothing more than missions for the Kazenkage Gaara and junk. That day, there were thankfully no missions, but a whole bunch of love letters addressed to Gaara, bills, and one more thing.

A letter from Konoha, addressed to her.

Inside was a simple piece of paper, nothing interesting. But someone had scribbled a couple of words on it:

_Temari,_

_Congrats on becoming a Jonin._

_Nara Shikamaru_

She smiled. A really short letter, and no one expects lazy bum Shikamaru to write than a few lousy lines, but…

At least someone cared.

"Hey Temari." She gave Gaara a bored glance. The Kazenkage was getting up from his seat and heading for the door. Not much had changed since he became the top ninja of the Hidden Stone Village. Except for the fact he seemed, somewhat, happier in a way.

Odd, really.

"What?"

"You're still thinking about that boyfriend of yours?" She felt her face flush, "He's not my boyfriend!" Gaara gave her a strange look, typical for a raccoon-eyed brat like him. Soon enough, he was gone.

Temari sighed. She was all alone, again. That's what you get when you're the woman of the house. She turned around and instinctually started whipping the kitchen counter clean with a spare rag.

Nothing has changed.

Nothing at all.


	2. Morning 2: Drifter

Hello Everyone! Nuthin much, just wanted to stop by and say hello to all you readers. Thank you SOO much for reading my first Temari X Shikimaru fanfic. Well, that's all I really want to say, so, se ya and please review! PLEASE!

Disclaimer: I don't really know what to type in a disclaimer, but first thing: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! If I did, Sakura will die, Sasuke will admit he's emo, and Naruto would be sent to Juvenile Hall while Itachi turns out to be innocent

"I'm back."

"Aww man, I was hoping you got yourself killed, but…" Kankuro shot her a glare but didn't say anything. She was obviously in one of her 'moods' again, but best not to mess with her. He'll have Gaara set her straight later.

Temari continued to stir the soup she was making for dinner tonight. Cooking wasn't exactly her favorite thing to do, but ever since both their mother and father, the former Kazenkage, died, she was left with the burden of mothering her two brothers. A pain in the ass.

But someone has to do it.

Actually, she was hoping that, when Gaara was pronounced Kazenkage, things would have been a lot easier. Instead, it was all backwards. Gaara, who was now too busy to do any house chores due to the fact he had to go to village meetings, piled it all up on her. Kankuro wasn't any help either; he always managed to find a way to slip out of a simple deed of washing windows with his training.

Leaving no one else but poor Temari to get the job done. Which explains her bad mood, but unfortunately, Kankuro was too dense to notice.

"What's for dinner?"

"Why do you want to know?" _You piece of… _Temari sighed. It was no use, especially when you're the woman of the house.

Gaara entered next, and instantly sat down one the table next to Kankuro. It was obvious he was tired; every little part of him ached with fatigued and he felt like he was going to fall over any second.

Temari looked up at the window. The sky was now a dark navy blue. And suddenly, she felt herself drifting back into the past again.

Sasuke.

There was a time where she found that bastard 'attractive'. That wasn't surprising, since Sasuke was what all girls call, 'a dream come true'. Naturally, she assumed herself to be attracted to the, calm, cool guys with talents.

That was, until she fought Nara Shikamaru in the Chunin Exam. That day was still clear in her mind. At first, she thought this was nothing more than another easy battle, with him cowering behind the trees from her wind attacks. He was a powerless little mouse compared to her, the cat. But that was, until the end of the long battle.

After tons of dodging, he finally struck. Nailed her with his Shadow Bind technique. It came so suddenly, so unexpected, that she had no time to react.

If only she wasn't so stupid and overconfident. Then, her victory was had been assured, but she just had to blow it off. That's where the two of them walked into the center of the battleground, and just as she braced herself for his final attack…

"I surrender."

She will never forget that battle. Ever.

His excuse: "I couldn't think of any way to defeat you." But she knew better. Just before he left the stadium, she saw something inside his eyes. A certain warmth, which she had never seen before. And from that day, the two of them were somehow, 'closer' to each other.

"Temari? Uh, Temari?"

Silence, then-

"TEMARI!"

"What?" She instantly snapped out of her daze and looked at her two brothers. Gaara had his expressionless mask on again, but Kankuro was literally in a panic. He pointed at the stove, "The food!"

That's when she smelled it. A burning scent, and felt her natural instinct take control over her body.

"OH MY GAWD! THE SOUP!" She ran over to the stove and pulled the pot off the burning flame onto the kitchen counter. Kankuro sighed with relief, but Gaara, meanwhile, kept his blank stare.

"Temari, that was pathetic. Don't drift off again."

Temari sighed and turned off the stove. Stupid, plane old stupid. Who would want to marry her if she continued to remain so careless? She fanned the soup, hoping the contents weren't that badly burned. Thankfully, the contents were okay, but the pot had dark burn marks along the bottom.

Even though it was obvious she knew what to do, Gaara couldn't help reminding her, "Tomorrow, get a new pot."


	3. Morning 3: Black and Red

Hey everyone again. Well, there's nothing for me to say right now, but have you ever tried harusame noodles. Yes, in my story Temari like those type of noodles, but I'm not sure if she does in the actual Naruto. I love those noodles, especially with meat sauce. Well, that's all for now.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or Temari either. If it did, she'll beat me with her fan handle until I hand over all my money. That's why I like Itachi the best.

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"Will this one do, mamn? It's made out of…"

"I don't care what it's made out of. I just need a new pot."

"How about this one?"

"Fine. I'll take it."

"That'll be 1500 yen." Temari sighed and pulled out her wallet. Shopping for pots was just like going to a boring art museum, they're both stupid. And they both aren't the number one things she wanted to do during a bright Saturday morning. Jut the very thought of it made her want to scream, literally.

She scanned her list. Chicken, rice, leeks, she have already bought all those. What were left, to her surprise, were harusame noodles. Thin, see-though noodles made form bean starch; it was one of her personal favorites. Just the very thought of it made her mouth water.

But something about it puzzled her. She didn't recall writing that on the shopping list, and Kankuro found them to be too soft for his liking. Gaara, well, that was a possibility, but she wasn't sure if he liked them. And besides it was either she or Kankuro writing the list; Gaara usually just sat back and complained.

Then something else caught her eye. Two men, dressed in strange black jackets with red clouds on the sides, had just walked past her. She instantly stopped walking and stared at them. How odd. She had never seen people dressed this weirdly before, and the weirdest being that blond rascal Naruto, but never like this.

Finally, ten feet away from her, one of the men turned around. He brushed back his orange hair, and she felt his cold, blue eyes examined her body. She didn't know what to do, attack or call him a perv. A slight chill ran down her spine and the air around her grew cold, very cold.

The orange-haired man then turned his back on her and continued after his yellow-haired companion, before vanishing completely into the crowd. Instantly, the air around her felt, somehow, warmer. Everything was back to normal. Something about those two men wasn't right. Something, she couldn't figure out…

_I have a feeling, this won't be the last time we meet, stranger._

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Meanwhile, the two men sat down in a nearby café and placed their order. They sat there in silence, waiting for the waitress to reappear, when finally one couldn't handle the silence anymore.

"So that's her?"

"The jinchuuriki older sister. Yeah, that's her."

"Pretty cute for the older sister of a monster."

"Heh. But remember, she's not the target."

"I know. She's just a sign that he's here."

"Shut up! We can't…" Their conversation ended here, with their smiling waitress placed their orders in front of them. After that, the two men paid their bill and left.


	4. Morning 4: Missions and nightmares

Yess! The return of Akatsuki, and ITACHI! I LOVE U! And no, I'm not planning to give back your jacket anytime soon. runs

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or why else would there still be instant cup ramen in my cupboard?

* * *

Kankuro wrinkled his nose, "What? Harusame?" Temari instantly lost her temper and slammed her fan onto the table, "EAT IT OR LEAVE IT!" He instantly took a small mouthful of the bean starch noodles, only to recoil in disgust. Gaara, meanwhile, just sat there in silence. Finally, he sighed and picked up his chopsticks. That's when Temari remembered what she had wanted to ask him all along.

"Uh, Gaara. You still remember that kid Sasuke? You know, the one who left the village. Whatever happened to him?"

"I heard he joined that evil Sanin Orochimaru. He hasn't been heard from since." Temari picked up her chopsticks. So Sasuke did vanish.

"What about Naruto? The annoying blond one."

"Left to train along one of the other Sanins, Jiyra, two years ago." By the looks of it, it seems as though most of the original Genins had become Chunins, except for those two. She slurped up some of the clear bean starch noodles. Shikamaru, by the looks of it, hasn't risen in rank, typical for a lazy bastard like him.

"Temari?"

"Mmmm?"

"One of the Jonins has fallen ill." She looked up at her younger brother. Gaara continued, "His team was going to participate in the Chunin exam in Konoha, but unfortunately, in his current condition, he's in no shape to go anywhere. If we don't find anyone to replace him, then, you know." He took a slurp of harusame, "Don't eat too fast, sister. You'll choke."

"I know. And besides, why are you telling me this?" She looked at Gaara. She knew she should really tell him about those two weirdoes she saw at the market, but somehow, she hesitated to. They were probably just passing strangers. Yeah, strangers who were just checking out the sights here.

Her brother swallowed his mouthful of food, "Unfortunately, no one else is advisable to look after them. Most of the other Jonins are busy, and Kankuro has a mission."

"So no one else is available…"

"Except you."

Temari was silent, and suddenly threw her bowl and chopstick onto table. She started ferociously pounding on her chest, while coughing. Instantly Kankuro stood up and pounded her back, until it finally went down. She stood up and banged her fist on the table, "You want me to go work with CHILDREN?" She hated children, especially those spoiled ninja brats. They made her wonder how she was ever one.

"Don't complain. This is your first mission as a Jonin. Like it or not, you have to do it."

"B-but…"

"Don't fail, or else it'll end up on record. I'm going out for a late-night meeting with the elders. Don't bother coming after me." Gaara stood up. Temari sighed. It was no use trying to change the Kazenkage's mind after he had made something up. Yet, she couldn't help letting the red-hot anger boil within. He knew how much she hated children, but he assigned her this mission anyway. What was he planning?

Gaara gave her one final look, "Your boyfriend will be there. I had asked specify for him to help you understand what your duty in Konoha with the three children is. He'll be your guide." Finally he walked out the door and vanished into the pit of the night.

"He's not my boyfriend…" Temari sat back down. This conversation was too confusing for her to even understand what's going on. Kankuro, meanwhile, gave her a strange look, "You have a boyfriend."

"Aww… shut up! I don't have a boyfriend!"

* * *

Sleep didn't come easy for her that night. She dreamed she was in Konoha, sitting on one of its many benched within its park. Then, Shikamaru appeared and sat next to her. He smiled at her, and turned into that creepy yellow-haired man she saw that morning. The park scenery faded into a swirling pit of darkness. Instantly, his partner, the red-haired one, appeared alongside Gaara. He then held up a kunai, and stabbed it into her brother's stomach. She screamed and rush to get to the Kazenkage's side, but his partner held her back.

A door slammed, waking her from that nightmare. Someone had just entered the house. The kitchen lights instantly flicked on. Temari sat up, and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, before walking out of her room and find Gaara pouring himself a glass of water. He looked up at her.

"Hey."

"Oh, it's you Gaara." _Thank goodness you're home._

"Did anything happen while I was away?"

"No, nothing." _I had a nightmare about two creeps._

"Oh, alright. And Kankuro's asleep, right."

"Yeah." _I'm worried about the both of you._

"So, why are you here?"

"You woke me up." She pulled over a chair and sat down. Gaara gave her a hard look, "Is there, something you want to tell me?"

"Hun?" _Yes. There are two creeps in the village hidden in the stone and-_

"No." Temari gulped, "Nothing. Just a bad dream." Gaara looked at her suspiciously but didn't question her further after that.


	5. Morning 5: Babysitter

GOD! This chapter was so hard to write. I can never think of anything to write for a good battle scene. Well, it was a terrible chapter, but hopefully next time will be better. And to everyone else: yes I got your message about me misspelling 'Kazekage' and 'Jiraiya' I hate those two words. Why are they so hard? Oh yeah, forgive me for the lines. was having some diffuculties.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Or else, I would have gotten one of those cool birds that Deidara has (or make him give me one). And if I did own Naruto, I would have already watched Naruto the Movie 3.

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"My name is Temari, and I'll be replacing your sensei for a while, until he gets better. Any questions?" She glanced at the three Genins. They gave each other a strange, confused look. Finally one of them raised their hand, "Whatever happened to Taimei-Sensei?" Temari sighed, "He's out sick."

"Well, when will he be back?"

"Soon. I'm just here to escort you to Konoha in his place so you can take the Chunin exam and…" Another one of the boys raised his hand, "What did he catch?" Temari stood there, before checking her list, "Your name is Daisuke, right?"

"Yeah. So what did he get?"

"I… don't know." She felt herself fighting the urge to grab onto her fan and whack Daisuke on the head. The other boy, Reiji, smirked, "What kind of Jonin are you? And why did we have to be assigned to a girl." She felt a flash of the battle she had with Shikamaru zoom before her eyes. "_Why do I have to fight a girl? So troublesome…"_

"Hey! Earth to… whoever you are." Reiji waved his hand in her face. Temari blinked then slapped it away, "What is it?" The Genin smirked, "You must be the lousiest Jonin there is. Are you sure you weren't misplaced as a Chunin…" In a flash, something hard and heavy came in contact with the top of his head.

CRACK!

Reiji fell down in a heap. His other two teammates just stared at their fallen comrade, mouths open. Temari smirked and repositioned her fan back onto her back. That'll teach that brat not to mess with…

The third member, a girl named Namiko, patted her fallen member's head. Then she sat down and started to cry, "What have you done to Reiji? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? WAHHHHH!" Temari sighed. It was going to be a long day. A very long day.

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"Are you sure this is the right way?"

"Positive."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

"Are you sure?"

"WILL YOU SHUT THE F UP? I'M TRYING TO CONCINTRATE!"

"So we're lost right?" Temari glared at Namiko and wondered if she'll get in trouble for cussing in front of genins. Well, Gaara had never really cared for cussing, and didn't really mind it at all, so she should be okay. The only problem: They were NOT lost, but Namiko had too good an imagination. Daisuke and Reiji, on the other hand, got her point about them being obnoxious. Reiji was still a little woozy from the incident, but Daisuke most of the time avoided eye contact with her, except for the occasional glare.

_Heh. I sure am popular with these Genins_. Temari grinned and leaped over a branch, before stopping, "We're going to rest up here for the night. If we don't meet any interference, then we should reach Konoha by tomorrow afternoon." _And I'll be able to meet that lazy bastard again…_

The team instantly stopped their movement and started to unpack. Temari, meanwhile, left for a nearby stream. As soon as she was out of sight, the team cheered.

"Thank goodness that bitch's gone." Daisuke sat down and let out a sigh of relief.

"She's so mean. I mean, they shouldn't let anyone like that be a Jonin." Reiji sneered and leaned against a tree. Soon enough, all thoughts of setting up camp were forgotten. Namiko sat down in between her comrades, unaware of the two other pairs of eyes looking at them. Then-

"Hey kids. Why are you all alone?" The three Genins instantly leaped to their feet, Kunai in hand. Reiji growled, "Where are you? Come out." There was a moment of silence, the calmness before the storm, and then Namiko screamed.

"WAAAA! HELP!"

"Namiko!" Daisuke spun around just to find out she was gone. He frantically looked around yelling, "NAMIKO!" Two masked figures then appeared, wearing black. One of them held an unconscious Namiko in front of him, a Kunai to her throat, "Come any closer and she'll die." Instantly, both Genins froze on the spot. The other member laughed, "So where's that pretty Jonin teacher of yours? We're supposed to meet her and give her a proper greeting." Both boys stood there in silence.

"Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" A wave of air blasted foreword, slicing everything in its path. All four shinobis leaped out in time to see Temari dash foreword, her Kyodai Sensu (Giant Fan) in hand.

"Temari-sama!" Both boys turned to look at their assigned Jonin, "They got Namiko!"

"I can tell, baka. I have eyes." She gave the two Genins an annoyed look, before turning onto the attackers, "I'm sorry, but you'll have to put her down." One of the masked shinobis seemed to smirk at her intimidating comment, "Ah, Temari-san. We've been waiting. Who knew they downgraded Yondaime Kazekage's daughter into becoming a babysitter."

Raiji felt his mouth fall open, "What? You mean that hag is a daughter of a Kazekage?" Temari ignored him, "You better give us back Namiko. I hate to see what'll happen to you once I'm done." The member holding poor little Namiko threw her at her temporary assigned Jonin's feet, "So Temari-san, now that you're here, we can get started.

Temari sneered, "Started on what?" Instantly two shurikens were thrown in her direction. Daisuke screamed out a warning that was lost in another Kamaitachi no Jutsu, deflecting the shurikens and causing the two shinobis to leap away from the dangerous slicing wave of air. Then they turned tail and ran.

"Raiji, Daisuke, stay with Namiko and be on your guard. I'll go deal with our mysterious guest." Temari ran after them. Soon enough, she came to a clearing with the two bastards waiting for her. She grinned, "Ready? KAMAITACHI NO JUTSU!" Another slicing wave of air blasted towards her opponents, causing them to doge again.

"How annoying. Is that the only move you can use?"

"You don't even know the half of it." _But he's right. I've been using this move so many times, they know how to doge it._ She tightened her grip on the black fan, "Dai Kamaitachi!" An even bigger wave of air sliced through the clearing. At that moment one of the attackers grabbed a handful of clay, "Kibaku Nendo!" There was a huge explosion of smoke and dust. Temari shielded herself with the fan, and looked up just to see her two mysterious attackers flying away on a giant clay bird.

"Goddamit."

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"So Sasori, what do you think about Temari-san?" The two men instantly removed their shape-changing jutsu back into their old selves. Sasori brushed down his Akatsuki cloak, "She uses a mixture of her chakra and wind to attack. Quite unusual, but not surprising for a Wind country shinobi. Either way, if she's representing the Hidden Stone village, then she shouldn't be able to interfere with our plans." Deidara gave him a bored look, "You talk too much."

"Don't let your feelings get in your way, Deidara."


	6. Morning 6: Konoha finally

Hello everyone! It's me again! Well, sorry for the long update, but I had to finish like a whole bunch of fanfics Well, I'm back, and I hope you enjoy this chapter of Silver Draft!

Disclaimer: As you all know, I don't own Naruto and never will and blah blah blah! Whatever, I better hurry up before Itachi finds out his ring's missing (and who dumped out his nail polish into the sink. I'M INNOCENT! I SWEAR!)

* * *

All three Shinobis of the Sand somehow managed to make it to Konoha in one piece, thankfully. 

The tree Genins stepped across the gate and into the grand village hidden in the leaves. Namiko let out a small sigh, "Wow… it's so big." The other too nodded in agreement. Temari, however, just walked past those two, "You better hurry. We're late."

"Right you are, Temari." She spun around just to meet the blank eyes of Neji. She grinned, "Guess I'm not the only Jonin here, right Neji?" Neji remained blank; "The entire village is practically searching for you right now. Also, Tsunade-sama is in a rather disagreeable mood today. You better hurry and find her before she looses her temper."

"Is that why you're the footman now?" The Hyuuga kept a straight face, "Don't tempt me, Temari the babysitter."

The sand Shinobi gave him one final look of annoyance before calling up the rest of her team and made tracks to the center of the village. Strange, though. She didn't see any of those first couple of other Shinobis that she had somehow grown close to, besides that boring Neji. In the end, she just gave up and headed her way to the Hokage building to see Tsunada, silently praying that the Hokage wasn't that mad about her lateness.

Her prayers weren't answered, however. She entered the room to find her angrily stamping papers, muttering about wanting sake.

"YOU'RE LATE!" The Hokage glared up at her. Temari silently gulped and stood her ground, "My apologies, Hokage-sama, but we ran into a small problem…" _Yeah, that involves two son of bitches trying to sabotage us and of course I kicked their goddamn asses but…_ Tsunade just sighed and continued stamping the stack of documents on top of her desk, "God, what a waste of time. You had the entire village worried. We ended up sending out some other Jonins out to go find you."

"What?"

"That's right. We currently have people out there in the woods, calling out your name. Shikamaru insisted on it, saying you wouldn't normally be this late unless something really bad happens." Temari silently felt her face flush. She didn't expected lazy bum Shikamaru to run out there, searching for her.

But it really wasn't any time to think right now, for the next thing she knew, Tsunade handed her some kind of paper, "This is the address to the inn you're suppose to stay at. Once you and those troublemakers behind you have unpacked, go out and tell everyone else to come back. I expect one of them," Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "would be glad to see you're here.

"Hai." Temari signaled her group to leave and exited the building. Once she was sure the Jonin was out of earshot, Tsunade sighed, "I will never get young people. So full of energy and trouble…"

* * *

Finally, after what seemed like hours of fighting and wrestling just for the good beds, the wind shinobi finally got the chance to sneak out the door and head into the woods. Not because she wanted to, but Tsunade ordered her to. 

And, by the looks of it, Shikamaru too.

As she leaped over branches and sprinted across the treetops, she pondered about her 'relationship' with Shikamaru. For some reason, even after she left Konoha, she could always feel she had some type of 'special' relationship with him. Every time one of the other shinobis from her village gave her even the slightest movement of affection, she found herself glaring down at him in disgust. They just didn't have the special feeling Shikamaru gave off. Or maybe she was just being picky.

She finally came across a small clearing and sat down to rest. The long, lush grass shimmered in the afternoon heat with life and fresh beauty. She smiled; it's been a while since she last saw grass like this.

A small rustle came from one of the bushes. Temari instantly turned her head towards the sound and narrowed her eyes. Hushed whispers could be heard.

"Come on, sweetheart. Lets… play."

"Shut up Ino! I told you, I'm not…"

"Don't be so harsh. You know you want it!"

"GET OFF!"

The wind shinobi had it. She dove through the foliage, just to find a blond haired girl sitting on top of her dear Shikamaru. The girl shook her head, "Looks like we've been found, right Shikamaru." The man shoved her off harshly, "Stay off me!" Temari, however, froze right on the spot. _Shikamaru, with another…_ She glared at the both of them, "I'm sorry I've interrupted your, party." Shikamaru instantly sat up, "Wait Temari! It's now what you think, honest…" but she paid no heed to him. Instead, Temari headed out the bushes and back towards Konoha, trying to hide the tears streaming down her cheeks.

* * *

I'm sorry anyone who dislikes the ending TT, but if you're a avid reader of my stories, keep this in mind: I love putting scandles in my stories. Don't worry, here's a spoiler: Ino tried to subduce Shikamaru, but he resisted. The next chaper will be about him trying to explain everything to Temari. 

Also, I'm sorry this chapter took so long to write. I'm busy now, since I've just entered 9th grade (I'm 14) and have a lot of homework. Well, thank you all for your support. PLEASE RATE!


	7. Morning 7: Filler

Finally the next part. Sorry everyone for the wait, it's just that this one's the really tough bottleneck chapter. Hopefully everything else will come into flow later.

**Disclaimer: you really don't need this, do you?**

* * *

CLINK! The kunai bounced off the surface of the target and onto the soft grass below. But that wasn't what Namiko was scared about. 

"YOU PATHETIC LITTLE ! HASEN'T YOUR SENSEI EVER TOUGHT YOU PEOPLE HOW TO THROW KUNAIS?" Reiji sighed, "There she blows... again. I can't wait until the Chunin exams are over." Temari shot him a glare, "At this rate, there's most likely not going to be any new Sunagakure Chunins."

She calmly sighed and picked up the kunai, "Okay, people. This is how you're supposed to throw the kunai. No questions asked!" With a flick of her wrist, the point of the knife sank dead center into the target. The three Genins stared at the bulls eye, gasping, "Wow, an accuracy from fifty paces?"

"Alright, everyone! I want you to all practice throwing a kunai from where I just threw it. You've seen me do it, so there's no tricks involved. No lunch OR dinner until it hits dead-center. GO!" The three let out a small groan but got up to obey. Temari chuckled to herself, and sat down on a log to make sure they weren't slacking off in any way.

_I wonder what... I can't think about him. That Ino pig got him. SNAP OUT OF IT!_

"Argg!" She slammed the bottom of her fan onto the ground. Why couldn't she just get over that bastard? It's not her fault!

"YEAH! I made one!" Daisuke cheered, "I get to eat dinner."

She smiled. _Maybe I'm being too hard on those three. But if they expect to pass, then they should get use to it._ A light breeze picked up, barely ruffling her soft blond hair. The scenery was strangely bliss. Large trees tower over them, while soft green grass cushioned their steps. She found herself drifting off again, before quickly biting her lip to concentrate.

* * *

"Akasuki?" 

"Yes, Kazenkage-sama. According to Jiyara, one of the three legendary sanins, there were reports of two men wearing black coats with red clouds seen around the village. We should take immediate precautions." Gaara nodded, "Yes, do that."

However, no one had noticed the clay bird gliding up above yet...

* * *

It was now around six in the afternoon. As she promised, all three of them got to eat dinner. But since Temari really didn't feel like cooking (who does?), they got to eat out. But in the end, one problem led to another... again. 

"SOBA!"

"GYUDON!"

"UNAGI!"

"OH GOD JUST SHUT THE HELL UP AND GIVE ME SOME PEACE!"

All three children shut up instantly. Temari sighed, "It's high time I teach you guys that ARGUING AMONG YOURSELVES ISN'T CONSIDRED A WAY OF THE SHINOBI!!!" She glared down at them, making sure none of the three was thinking this as some kind of joke, "To solve this problem, just rock-paper-scissor it, got it?" The three growled.

In the end, strange enough, Temari won, so they all got to eat curry.

"It's because I can't find any other foods here I actually like OR recognized." She let out another sigh. Konoha was clearly too big for her. She would have preferred a smaller village, such as Shibuki, but they just had to host the exams in Konoha...


	8. please stand by

My Apologies to everyone who reads Silver Draft.

Well, i'm sorry, but i'm going to have to put this story on hold for a while. Really sorry and sumimasen, but i just don't have time. Take note: this does not mean i'm going to deleat/end it yet, just need to do that later. Thank you!!!

-Calie


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